Week 1

I am officially a graduate student!  I've just finished my first week at William and Mary, and I have to say, it was certainly fantastic.  I love my classes and the people in them.  We've actually all started to get to know each other because we spent the first hour and a half of both classes interviewing each other and introducing each other to everyone else in the class.  Here is a rundown of everything so far:

Monday

After presenting my in-depth project with my group in journalism, I packed up my car and drove to Williamsburg.  The only education-related thing that I did was meet with two of the Graduate Education Association (GEA) leadership girls, my roommate Ashley and another counseling student, Amanda, for dinner.  Did some unpacking and homework to get ready for class on Tuesday afternoon, and then it was time for bed.

Tuesday

Met everyone at orientation in the morning.  It was pretty long, but it was all valuable information, and I met some great kids.  My first class was in the afternoon, a research methods class.  Potentially boring, but the professor is really engaging and makes the course interesting.  He knows that most of us aren't math people, but we all have to understand this material.  I never realized how important research is to education.  In reality, research drives education.  What is the most effective way to teach a subject?  How do children of different ages learn?  How much rest do kids need during the day?  Should boys and girls learn in the same classrooms?  It's really interesting.  I met with my GA advisor afterwards and we talked through my projects for the summer.  It's SO great to be able to do research on something and use the skills that I have to make an impact.  And, then I went back to W&L to be an undergrad again.

Wednesday

Was rather proud of myself because I presented my anthro paper with minimal notes and minimal nervousness, I just kind of got up and spoke for 20 minutes.  I used to be really afraid of public speaking unless I was teaching something -- for example, in high school I was terrible at oral foreign language tests, but did fine when "teaching" a unit in one of my history or English classes.  It's something I've worked on a lot and know that I just need to keep practicing for when I'm a real teacher.  Anyway, my presentation made me feel great, and this feeling was further affirmed when I went to my first Foundations of Education class that afternoon.  The class is all about equipping us to understand ourselves as teachers and how we relate to the public school system, the community, and the teaching profession itself.  It's very reflective and our prof really makes us think about important issues.  He's very engaging, which is good for a class that meets 5:30-9:30 at night!  I don't think I got bored once.  And he brought us donuts :) as well as a sign-up sheet for everyone to bring in snacks, haha.  It's rather like a Bible study, just with the focus being teaching instead of the Bible.

Thursday

I spent the morning working on the anthro paper, and then went to Research Methods again in the afternoon.  Where Tuesday sparked interest in the subject that I figured would be boring, Thursday added an ambiguity that made me realize how difficult it is to define research.  We spent the first bit of class talking about qualities of good research questions and investigating research studies that appeared to be good on the surface, but really had fundamental flaws.  Then we spent about an hour or so in small groups working on research questions and discussing different steps.  I worked with the two other social studies ladies, Acadia and Sara, so that was fun.  I had never realized that defining research was such an undertaking!  The class is more challenging than expected, but the prof is really good at explaining.  Drove back to Lexington for the LOST finale, and all I have to say about that is ... wow.

Friday

Finished the in-depth project at 2:30!  Also turned in my anthro paper and did a lot of errands, like picking up my cap and gown.  Relaxed in the afternoon in the bliss of no more undergraduate work.  It's a beautiful thing.

And now I'm going back to Williamsburg, for the next few days, and then graduation.  God is good.  :)  I'm tired, and glad that I got through the crazy week.  Hopefully I'll have more time to blog now.

Journalism

One of my best friends got married yesterday.  I miss her already, but I'm so happy for her and her husband.  They're great.  :)  I have two more weddings to go to this summer, and I thought that I would be freaking out more about the fact that my friends are getting married, but I'm really not, because I know that it's right and I'm so happy for them.  Change is part of growing up, but that doesn't make it easy.  :)

Grad school starts on Tuesday!

Okay, so the point of this post: my journalism major.  I've spent the better part of the last five weeks working on my capstone project for my journalism major.  This has at times caused me great frustration.  The journalism school at W&L has professional majors (like me) complete a six week in-depth journalism project to show off the fact that we've actually learned something in the past four years.  Each group of four has a topic that we're supposed to investigate in current events and especially in how it relates to Rockbridge County.  This year's groups are looking at alternative energy, emergency management, the mortgage crisis, and senior care facilities.  I'm in the alternative energy group.  We are supposed to report on multiple aspects of the topic, culminating in 15-20 minutes of video for the broadcast component, four or five print stories, and a Web site to tie it all together with fun elements and such.  My role has mainly been to build this Web site, so I've spent a lot of time learning CSS, HTML, and Dreamweaver templates, as well as going on interviews and all that jazz.

This is a good way to culminate the major in a couple ways.  First, it allows us to look at a topic over a period of time and really get to know it.  This is how journalism is supposed to be.  Granted, getting the story out on deadline, especially if it's a big story, is very important.  I'm not disputing that.  However, I feel that a lot of problems in contemporary journalism could be solved if journalists just took the time to sit down and think about what they're doing, and not just take information for granted.  Second, contemporary journalism is no longer separated.  Broadcast, print, and Web journalists all work together and journalists need to be able to produce content for all platforms.  This is an integrated project that helps to utilize all of our journalism resources.  Third, lots of contemporary journalism is done in groups.  It's better for your story if you can get a range of opinions on how to present it ... this helps with objectivity, and creativity.

But there are some drawbacks to this capstone.  There's not much room here for people who want a journalism major but who aren't actually going to be journalists (like me).  Also, many of these topics are so big that they're hard to cover, even in such an in-depth fashion.  Groups also don't always get along, and that can really put strains on friendships.  The biggest thing, though, is that this is a spring term, the six weeks before graduation, class, and everyone really just wants to be done with it.  Even the kids who are going into journalism.

Either way, it's been an interesting class.  I'll be VERY happy when it's over, in the very near future, but it hasn't been a bad way to spend the last five weeks.  Regardless, I can't wait to go to Williamsburg tomorrow!

Winter Term 2008: Latin American Environmental History

I've been promising write-ups from my classes for the past five months, so here is the first in an installation, a write-up of Latin American Environmental History.

This class was fascinating because I got to study an area of interest that I hadn't yet studied in college (Latin America) in a way that I wouldn't have expected to study it (a focus on interactions with nature).  Environmental history can mean a lot of different things, but in this context, it refers to how people groups interact with an environment, and one another, over time through their lifestyle and how they use resources.  It can be measured in the ways that people groups treat one another geographically, how people groups trade commodities with one another, how people groups directly affect the environment through resource extraction or their living, etc.  It can really be interpreted in a lot of different ways: economically, politically, socially, culturally, religiously.

Why is this a good way to study Latin America?  Because many of the squabbles that people have about Latin America have to do with resource allocation (bananas, sugar, rubber, trees, etc), land distribution (Amazon Rainforest), and indigenous peoples (where they are allowed to live, what they are allowed to do, etc).

We looked at resource allocation and land use in these contexts over time, from pre-Columbian indigenous use to the coming of the Spanish and Portuguese to modern day Communist states.  A few things that struck me about our conversations were that most of the articles we read were written by so-called "Westerners," non-Latin-Americans.  Having family in Brazil, I felt that I had a unique perspective in understanding their point of view that the Amazon belongs to them and not to the world.  One perspective that I had not considered is the idea that a lot of members of the Global South have that we have no right over their environment just because we messed ours up -- they shouldn't have to change their consumption patterns because we didn't plan ours economically.  Now, there are debates on both sides, and I don't know which one I agree with more, but I can definitely see their point.

I was also struck by how many differing ideas there are about Latin American history and interpreting it.  A good way of looking at this is seeing where authors placed blame: on indigenous peoples, on the European conquerers, on Christianity, on governments (both colonial and modern), on capitalism, on communism, on the poor, on the rich ... I think every possible group of people was blamed somewhere in one of the articles we read, but the overarching blame was really placed on the Western world, especially the United States.

The thing that stood out the most to me is how our tastes and whims affect everyone else around the world.  This is especially visible right now with the use of corn ethanol.  Because we're using corn for fuel instead of food, thousands of people are starving worldwide because there is now a food shortage.  This isn't affecting us in the United States so much, but it's affecting developing nations to a large degree ... and corn ethanol isn't even that environmentally friendly ...

Anyway, this was a great way to look at history.  It provided a lens through which to look at events and really see why they matter.  I think one of the main reasons people don't like history is because they don't see why history matters.  Looking at history through a particular lens shows how history has affected people groups and continues to affect us today.  Every article that we read said something about Latin America in the past and Latin America in the present, and about the rest of us.  Understanding these truths about the past help us make more informed decisions for the future, and decisions that include the whole of creation, and that won't just benefit us, the Western Americans.

Forward motion

It's cliche, I know, but the coming of spring has always been one of my favorite times of year (despite the inevitable sniffles that accompany the pollen). Spring came in March in California, but in Virginia it doesn't come for real until April, and even then, you still get some winter weather. :) I think I like spring because it doesn't last very long. Everything is in full bloom for only a few weeks, but it's a lovely few weeks while it lasts. I haven't blogged much this spring because I had finals, and then spring break, and I've been back at school for the past two weeks but have been pretty busy with six spring term credits, registering for grad school credits, and arranging everything to move to Williamsburg.

My Caribbean cruise was everything I expected it to be. The seventeen of us had a delightful time, and we most certainly because "those kids." We were really the only college students on the cruise. I read through two books, ate way too much food, went swimming, saw some shows, and just generally had a great time. Could not have had a better senior year spring break.

Every day closer to May 26 and the start of grad school makes me anticipate this change more and more. I'm just really excited to see what God has in store for me in Williamsburg. I'm really excited about my classes, my jobs, my flat, my roommate, and just living in this historic area, and it's hard because I am not really that "into" either of the classes that I am taking right now. But I know that I will miss everyone here terribly.

Today was a good day. It was good to spend time with some of the people whom I will miss the most after leaving school. My past two weekends have been fantastic also, both at home. This past weekend I went home to support my Mom in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the weekend before I went home for my grandfather's 80th birthday party. I got to see a LOT of family, so that was fantastic.

Things I am hoping to blog about in the near future:

1. Latin American environmental history
2. Remembering acts of God and Christ in worship
3. Anthropology and violence
4. Global church as the hope for the world
5. Jim Wallis' new book "The Great Awakening"

JKR/WB vs. RDR Books

I have been following, with great interest, the lawsuit between JK Rowling/Warner Bros. and RDR Books over the potential publication of Steve Vander Ark's Lexicon book. The book is based on Vander Ark's Harry Potter Lexicon Web site, which I have actually found a very useful tool in my own fanfiction writing endeavors because it gives me information right at the tip of my fingers so that I don't have to look it up in my books. It's saved me a lot of hours of searching, and there are some great articles on it. The problem with the book form is that 90% of the work is lifted directly from Rowling, word for word, and much of it isn't sourced. Rowling and Warner Bros., rightly, sued RDR Books, the Lexicon's publishing company, as soon as the book was completed last fall and the case just went to court last week.

For full coverage of these events, see this great page from The Leaky Cauldron. Much of my analysis is in agreement with Leaky's podcast from last week, with wonderful thoughts from Melissa, John, Sue, and Frak. I love listening to these four every week and their Harry Potter analysis. Melissa and John were present at the trial as well as their friend Samantha, and there were no other representatives from Harry Potter fan Web sites there, so they are the real fan authorities here.

I have a few points to make on this case, and they are as follows:

• Rowling and Warner Brothers' claims are completely legitimate


• Fair use does not apply in this situation


• Vander Ark should be able to publish his own guide to Harry Potter, but it should be of his own creation


• This book is VERY different from fanfiction


• The media have done their readers, the Harry Potter community, Rowling/Warner Bros., and Vander Ark a great disservice in their coverage


• It should come as no surprise to Vander Ark that the fan community is not embracing him anymore, but there is room for healing


• The best hope for all involved is reconciliation

These basic points are for those who don't want to read my eloquent analysis :) And on to the opinion post ...

My first point is that Rowling has a legitimate claim. Harry Potter is her creation, and she's been extraordinarily lenient in fan responses to her work, for which I am very grateful as it has helped me become a better fiction writer. For the record, fanfiction isn't illegal. Fan Web sites are not illegal. This is because neither of these manifestations of fan response cause the fans to make money. Vander Ark's Web site does not take from JK Rowling's ability to sell her books, but a book form of this Web site for profit is a different story. Rowling announced soon after the publication of Deathly Hallows that she intended to write her own encyclopedia about her world for fans, but that she wanted to do it right so she was not planning on releasing it right away. Personally, I don't think that this gives someone else a license to create a guide like Vander Ark's to her work.

Vander Ark's book is substantially copied material from the Harry Potter books, without sourcing in many cases. One witness in the case counted the book line by line and found that 90% of it is taken directly from the Harry Potter books. IF Vander Ark created a guide to Harry Potter that was in his own words and NOT blatently copied, that would be a different story. Rowling and Warner Bros. are asking him to amend his copy, not abandon the project altogether. I don't think that that is too much to ask. This is the difference between Vander Ark's book and fanfiction -- fanfiction is a creation of an individual author. What I write is completely my own, with the exception that I'm using characters and places and basic plot points from Harry Potter. I'm not making any money off of it, it's a form of fan expression that is legally okay.

One thing that is just terrible to me is that the media has been grating on Rowling for her attitude in this case.  Seriously?  Fair use can't apply here because Vander Ark would be making money.  My dad pointed that out to me, and he would know.  Jo gives to charity, she doesn't just squander her money, and she's provided Vander Ark with so many opportunities here ... and even if she HADN'T, it's still her creation!  This is a thought from John of PotterCast, but really, it's no wonder that the Harry Potter community has rejected Vander Ark in this case.  He's being completely disrespectful and creating a rift that doesn't have to be there.

All that said, there is hope, and that hope is in reconciliation.  The whole world is broken because we are driven by our selfish desires, and Steve Vander Ark is no different from any of us.  Let's not judge as we look at him, but pray for the hope of compromise and forgiveness.  The best road to healing is to recognize when you're doing something wrong.  That's my prayer for Steve.

Keep safe, keep faith.  :)

Maybe Not Today

I wrote my first post-Deathly Hallows fanfic about a month ago, entitled "Maybe Not Today."  I wanted to wait to blog about it until it had gone through the run-down on the right column of the PhoenixSong front page, but that took quite a while!  Apparently story submissions have slowed down for the site in recent months, but it looks like they will pick up again soon.

"Maybe Not Today" started out as a fluffy short story about the trio and company (including poor Fred) playing in the snow on the first snowy day of the year.  Needless to say, I started writing the story several years ago before Deathly Hallows was released.  I can honestly say that waiting to finish it has made the story what it is today.  I could never have written such a poignant narrative of loss had I not experienced personal losses in the past few years, and I could never have written this story without last April.  My heart still breaks when I remember, and that lingering hurt is what drove this story to completion.

Here is the summary: "Those we love never really leave us, but it takes a while to be able to cope with their absence."

Please do read, and I hope that it brings you comfort if you're going through a loss.

BREAKING: Judge sides with ADV churches

Yes indeed!  It is true!  Judge Bellows has ruled that the Virginia Division Statute is applicable to the case of the eleven churches that voted to break away from TEC in 2006, one of which, of course, is my family's church, The Falls Church.

Response from the Diocese of Virginia: Statement on Property Ruling

What this means is that the judge has determined there is a definitive split in the church.  The next step is another hearing on May 28 to determine constitutionality of the Virginia Division Statute, and then a ruling on the property.  I wrote about this issue some months ago on this blog.  Links to those commentaries:

Part 1 - A New Beginning

Part 2 - Is Property the Issue?

Part 3 - Two Diverging Roads

If you have been following my blog at all, my opinion on this issue should be clear.  This made my day when I read about it yesterday -- praise God for His favor and for granting us mercy in the eyes of Judge Bellows.  My prayer is for His will, not that we will or will not get to keep the property.  Of course, I hope we get to keep the property.  I really want to get married there someday, but the physical building is of no consequence when it comes to the true worship of God.  And still, my ultimate prayer is for reconciliation, not just between The Episcopal Church and those of us who feel estranged because of their reevaluation of scripture, but for all in the body of Christ.

I want to learn more about being Anglican.  I connect so strongly with the mix of traditional and contemporary elements that are present in the Anglican Communion, and I have enjoyed all of the Anglican churches I have attended.  Hopefully I can engage in reading more books about it in the coming months!  Maybe there is an Anglican podcast I can check out.

On another note, I took two finals today, wrote a paper last night, and I have another paper to write before Monday.  The end is in sight.  :)  And then I'll be cruisin' in the Caribbean!

Musings, podcasts, and spring!

There is someone playing guitar outside of my window.  I love it!  He or she is pretty good, too.  It's pleasant background music to go along with writing my last mini ethics paper assignment.  This week we're supposed to analyze our "personal ethical dilemma" from the first assignment and say if our views have changed at all from before.  Mine really haven't.  :)

The flowers are coming out all over campus, and they're beautiful.  I'm going to miss Lexington, but I hear Williamsburg is just as lovely!  I can't believe I'm moving there in pretty much exactly two months.  Absolute craziness.  Ashley and I are working on the flat situation so hopefully that gets finalized soon.  It should be fine.  I also found out today that the masters' project is being cancelled for C&I majors, so that's rather exciting.  I get to save about $800 off tuition!

Okay, so the real reason I'm writing a blog is because I discovered the wonderful art that is podcasting today.  I had listened to a few podcasts before but I hadn't ever really been absorbed by them.  My dad introduced them to me about a year ago.  He's fascinated with them, loves listening to sermons and other theological stuff, which is cool.  I had signed up for a couple of them, ones from our home church and also a Harry Potter one, but hadn't ever really listened to any of them.

Today I decided to listen to a couple while I was stuffing envelopes at Hill House and I really enjoyed them.  I listened to a couple from The Falls Church and a couple from the PotterCast and they were really interesting.  I learned about:

1. James 1 and hypocrisy: we need to be doers of the Word and not just listeners; the Word shows us who we are and if we hear it and understand but then turn away from it, we're like someone who sees themselves in the mirror and then forgets what they look like
2. James 2 and judging: placing judgment on others based on how they appear renders our faith ineffective and hurts our witness for the Gospel
3. PotterCast 131: Interview with J.K. Rowling: mostly stuff about horcruxes and wands
4. PotterCast 132: Interview with J.K. Rowling part 2: Neville!
5. PotterCast 138: SnoggCast: well, I'm still in the middle of it, but they're talking about Chapter 7 of Deathly Hallows and it's really interesting!

So podcasts are awesome.  :)

I need Thee every hour

This quote made my heart ache, so I figure it's a good one.  :)

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever wtih me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone." ~ Thomas Merton

A fitting prayer, for every day.

Brian Littrell

Rachel and I were listening to my iTunes library today while doing homework and the song "By His Wounds" just so happened to play.  If you don't know, the song is by a group called Glory Revealed, made up of Steven Curtis Chapman, Mac Powell of Third Day, and Brian Littrell (yes, of the Backstreet Boys).  They were all on tour together last year, and I assume that the group was made up when they were on tour.

Rachel and I got to talking about Littrell and his emergence into Christian music, and how we really loved Backstreet Boys when we were in middle school because of Littrell -- he always thanked God first on his CD thank-yous.  Well, Rachel mentioned that some of the songs he had written for the Backstreet Boys were glaringly Christian songs, and I was curious.  She claimed that "The One" from the CD "Millenium" was totally a Christian song, and naturally, she was right.  Observe:

"The One" by Brian Littrell

I guess you were lost when I met you

Still there were tears in your eyes

So out of trust and I knew

No more than mysteries and lies

There you were, wild and free

Reaching out like you needed me

A helping hand to make it right

I am holding you all through the night

I'll be the one (I'll be the one)

Who will make all your sorrows undone

I'll be the light (I'll be the light)

When you feel like there's nowhere to run

I'll be the one

To hold you and make sure that you'll be alright

Cause my fear is gone

And I want to take you from darkness to light

*bridge, chorus*

You need me like I need you

We could share our dreams coming true

I can show you what true love means

Just take my hand, baby please

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run to make it alright

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run

*repeat*

This makes us really happy.  :)  More evidence of Littrell's awesomeness:

"Welcome Home (You)" by Brian Littrell

When I left home to be who I am

Some people said no way

But I laid it all down, gave everything

In my head rang the words that my Father said

You're never far, I will be where you are

And when you come to me

I will open my arms

And welcome home you

I know you by name

How do you do?

I shine because of you today

So come and sit down

Tell me how you are

You know, son, it's good just to see your face

When I look at you holding my heart

I will give to you all that I am

Son, I know there'll be times

You will feel all alone

I will share with you the words my Father said

You're never far, I will be where you are

And when you come to me

You can bet I will open my arms

*chorus*